How did 'forbidden' massive black holes form? Study explains
A new study just explained a cosmic mystery: in 2025, scientists spotted two huge black holes merging—way bigger than what we thought stars could make.
The merged black hole was 225 times the mass of our Sun, and its "parents" were in a size range where black holes weren't supposed to exist.
Magnetic fields can help massive stars collapse
Researchers ran simulations and found that when massive stars collapse, strong magnetic fields can blast away a lot of material at nearly light speed.
This means even super-huge stars can end up forming smaller black holes, sneaking them into that so-called "forbidden" mass gap.
Rethinking black hole formation
This discovery shakes up what we thought about how black holes form.
It suggests that black holes in the "mass gap" can form more often than previously believed, so scientists may need to rethink their models for how stars live and die.